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Argyle-Barrington MLA Says Liberals Playing Games With House Of Assembly Minority Representation

Posted on Tuesday, September 12, 2017 12:05 PM

The second public meeting of the Commission on Effective Electoral Representation of Acadians and African Nova Scotians takes place tonight in Clare.

It will be held from 6:30-8:30 at the Saulnierville Legion.

The independent commission's mandate is to engage with Acadians and African Nova Scotians, listen, reflect, and then provide advice on effective electoral representation to the provincial government.

A court challenge from the Acadian Federation of Nova Scotia was successful earlier this year in determining that the elimination of minority ridings in 2012 by the then NDP government was unconstitutional.

d’Entremont, who is also his Party’s critic for Acadian Affairs, says the government is making a farce of the commission by calling it “independent.”

He says this process was put together by a 'dying Liberal government.'

"They were trying to push off a court decision further into the future so they could have an election. I'm not super engaged in it as far as hoping the results will actually get used by the next boundary commission."

d'Entremont says a truly independent commission would have been struck by a motion of the House of Assembly with all MLAs having a say.

He says the Liberals are acting unilaterally to deal with minority representation before the province's legislated boundary review, set to begin next year.

"We need to just get on with it. Let's get the all-party committee ready and take the politics out of it as best we can so we can actually have the correct number of representatives in the province to make sure their voices are heard in the legislature."

d'Entremont also wants answers on why indigenous Nova Scotians are being excluded from the process.